A tale of three toiles, one of them wearable!

Hello Sewing buddies.  A little while ago I decided to try making some trousers. I have made elastic waist trousers in the past, and wear them happily; but, I wanted to try a pair of proper fitted high-waisted trews. Out came the old paint splattered bed-sheets - it was toile time!

Looks okay standing very still, but lots of extra fabric at the front.

This pattern is Simplicity K1699 and it's very straightforward: no pockets, no fly zip - so I could just focus on getting it to fit me!  Toile number one was baggy in the front crotch, as if my front rise was drastically shorter than the pattern.

After sewing this toile, I have noticed bagginess on many old RTW trousers that I'd never noticed before! This actually made me feel better; although I should try and get them to fit the best I can, I shouldn't get too hung up on being a perfectionist with fit, as most flaws we don't even notice day to day. That realisation gave me the confidence just to have a go with fitting.

The seam on the front is where I have taken out a triangular wedge of excess fabric.

For toile number two, I have pinched out the front excess on the crotch, and it fits me much better. I also added back to the top what height I'd pinched from the crotch curve, so that the front and back of the trousers were still level. At the back, I took a small slice out under the bum to get rid of the bagging.

I am really pleased with both of these adjustments, and was keen to next try out on fabric I could wear out of the house. I believe the test of a garment's fit is only complete once you've worn it all day.

Drag lines at the back- too much fabric.

Wearable toile number three is from some cheap jumbo cord. The material, although a nice colour, has a high acrylic content; it was, though, very cheap and has a similar weight to my fashion fabric. For this version, I kept the previous adjustments and tried to tackle the bagging at of the back just under the bum. For this, I created a new seam line on the back pattern pieces, losing a good inch on both sides but keeping the front pieces as they were.

I have taken them out for a spin. Conclusions: They are comfy. They hit my waist, which is how I like to wear my trousers. I could pinch a little more out of the front crotch, they are still a little baggy - although I only really see that in the photos and don't scrutinise my clothes that deeply in real life.

You can see in this photo that there is still too much fabric at the front crotch.

Whats next?  I am not sure. I have bought the most gorgeous wool/viscose blend in dark grey suiting from Ditto Fabrics to make my final version, but I feel I should get the fit better before cracking open the lovely fabric. I may have one more toile in me; perhaps I will play with adding the bib of a dungaree pattern on my next go, just to keep the project fun and appealing. Time will tell!

Even with a less than perfect fit, they are still perfectly wearable! Ha-Yah - take that fit issues!

What do you do when you have nice fabric you are aching to use?

New trousers!

Good evening. It's been cold recently, and this morning - to the joy of my youngest - it snowed. Sadly for her, it had all melted in the short time it took her to get dressed. Poor thing. We went outside anyway to photograph my new trousers, but it was very cold so we decamped indoors pronto.

I love the print of this fabric; dark blue floral print against a deep plummy purple. I bought it about a year ago on a whim from Fabricland in Brighton; it's a scuba knit and is thick and spongy. The trousers feel surprisingly lovely when on!

I really liked the fabric but because of the fabric content (polyester) I wouldn't want to wear it as a top or dress as it would be too sweaty, so it was destined to be either skirt or trousers.

From the front.

From the back

After making my muslin (simplicity 1314) I knew I had to raise the centre back and 

I used the slash and spread method to add room to the back of my trouser pattern. Very easy to do and worked a treat.

I am really pleased with how these turned out and would ideally like another pair. I have the most delicious wool and viscose knit from Ditto fabrics that I had earmarked for more trousers. It is almost black on the right side, but I prefer the wrong side as its a gorgeous mix of light grey and white in an almost twill effect.

But now I am deliberating as the fabric is so yummy and would make a lovely dress too. Decisions decisions!

New Trousers.

Greetings all. Week three of the summer holidays, and I am so exhausted I can barely move! The kids meanwhile career around with seemingly boundless energy. In the oft spoken words of my youngest: "it not fair!"  Despite this exhaustion, I have somehow produced new trousers.

Super comfy slouch-about-in trousers is what I needed, and what I made. The pattern is NewLook 6216, which is the same pattern with which I made my Mum's pyjama trousers. They were especially easy to whip up, having made them before.

Having said that, I did sew the buggers together wrongly! But it all worked out okay: I was able to use the duff sewing to create French seams! This was possible as the design of the trousers is quite wide and baggy, so they were able to lose a little width to extra seam allowance!

The fabric is a lovely dark burgundy red in linen-look cotton. So easy to sew, and fabulous to wear.  Like linen, they do crease, but perhaps not as fast.

The true beauty of these trousers lies in their elasticated waist. So comfy. Though, I think I feel confident enough to give "proper" trousers a go now!

I have worn these babies almost constantly since they were finished, and actually they look much nicer with a close fitting top. They seemed determined to photograph badly, though (or perhaps my unmotivated 9 year old photographer was just bored of the task).

I am really pleased with these and could easily see myself making them again if the right fabric caught my eye.

Now, back to the exhausting task of entertaining three kids before they trash my house!

Selfless Sewing #2

Hello all, look what I made: trousers for my Mummy!

Well, truth be told, these are a trial-run made in pyjama fabric! They are New Look 6216; it says 'easy' on the packet, and they were. I am chuffed to have made some trousers, and I'm very pleased with them.

As they are pyjamas rather than outerwear, they can be a bit more fun - the fabric has the cutest little owls on. It is brushed cotton, comfy and cosy. The waistline is a mixture of wide elastic and drawstring. And they fit!

The trousers have cute little pockets, which came together remarkably easily!

It has taken me ages to finish these as I stumbled on the hemming; I was being lazy, avoiding it, for all the other fun sewing jobs I wanted to finish first. But once I'd finished, I saw a pair that are an absolute match in Marks and Spencer, so feel confident this is a going to be a good shape for summer trousers.

I am hoping to soon make my mum some more, as actual trousers, in a blue linen. And these were a good size for me too, so I may make myself some after that.

 

PS. As you'll see from the photos, my garden is ablaze with tulips. I LOVE this time of year.

Happy New Sewing Year

Happy New Year! Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas. I have kicked the new year off with some sewing. Hurrah!

Tartan Trews for the boys!  I thought they would be fun, and they are.  A bit bright, but they can carry it off; they are not jeans and t-shirt kinda boys.

Apologies for the wriggly nature of the model: photographing an eight year old boy is an epic ask. My younger boy wouldn't play ball at all, so I guess I should be grateful for whatever I can get!

The pattern is an easy one from an old book called "Children's Wardrobe" which accompanied a BBC TV show in the 1970s; my copy came from my Nan's stash. I don't remember if she made me anything from it, but the boiler suit pattern was cut-out with pinpricks in it so it's possible.

The fabric is a heavy cotton and is from Ditto in Brighton's North Laine. The pattern is just one main piece with an elasticated waist. It would have sewn up very quickly if the fabric hadn't decided to fray like crazy!

I had to clean out my machine three times: little bits of the weave entangling itself in the bobbin race. I guess this happened because it was a loose weave. I finished the seams in a variety of ways to ensure these survive the wash; my boys are not kind to clothes, so these will likely spend a lot of time bobbing along in the machine.

The legs I machine felled - not sure I did it right as it felt too easy (I previously had thought it was meant to be tricky). The crutch I zigzagged with a small stitch, and the waist I bound.

While sewing these two pairs of trousers, I got to reflecting on how far I have come as a stitcher. I am pretty neat with my sewing now: very unlike my first makes where ne'er a straight line can be seen! This sewing lark has proved addictive. 

Well, I class these a success. They'll certainly get worn anyway.

Trousers for the boys

I've recently joined The Monthly Stitch collective.  I'd been reading their posts for a while, but didn't feel I could sew to order like that.

Then, I realised: hey, I don't need to do every challenge, just ones that fit in with my general plans. Well, February's challenge is to sew trousers, and my boys desperately need some new ones, so here goes...

They love a bit of army camouflage! I liked the blue, but versions in green have already been requested by the boys (as that's the proper army colour)!

The fabric is a thick heavy duty cotton; it has the weight of a light denim, and it was a joy to cut and sew.

The pattern is one from my Nan's stash.  She must have brought it to sew for me back in the Seventies.  It feels fab to be sewing it for my boys. It's an easy pattern with no zip, just an elasticated waistband. This suits me as I still need to develop my limited zip skills, and it suits them as it makes the trousers super easy to pull on when you are aged 4 or 7.

I nearly had a coronary trying to work out how to do a blind hem stitch! I've lost count of how many  tutorials I watched online, but I couldn't get my head around it! Eventually I decided I just had to walk away.  Laurie's pair I hand sewed, but with Rowan's I persevered the following day, and eventually managed it. But not without rather a lot of swearing! The trick will be if I can do it again next time.

Even though there is three years between the boys they rather like to be matchy-matchy.  Despite much squabbling, I think they love each other really.

Details include cute little pockets which have already been used for stones, mud and stolen coins!

Theses picture were taken at Emmaus in Portslade, It's so lovely there with vintage finds in the chapel shop, a fabulous cafe and secret gardens to discover.  They had a lovely time and it was a great way to kick-start their half-term holiday.

In other news, Onesmallstitch has nominated me for a Liebster blogging award.  Very chuffed! Just got to put my thinking cap on for my answers...